growth was increased by compost in the first 

 season, but not significantly in the second or third 

 season. By the third season, tree height was 

 greater with compost. Compost increased the 

 amount of bloom. MAP had no effect on trunk 

 growth, shoot growth, number of growing points, 

 or tree height in any season of the study. We were 

 unable to determine if the increases in tree size 

 and flowering were large enough to increase early 

 yield, because the trees did not attain sufficient 

 size to permit cropping until after the third 

 growing season. The trees in this study were on 

 B.9 rootstock, which is less vigorous than M.9 

 EMLA, and may be insufficiently vigorous for 

 spur-type varieties such as Macoun in northern 

 New York and New England. 



Tree growth was increased by pre-plant- 

 incorporated apple-pomace compost, similar to 

 results of other studies that showed organic matter 

 added to the planting hole increased shoot growth 

 and trunk girth. In those studies, the effect of 

 planting hole treatments was no longer evident by 

 the second or third season, and this result was 

 attributed to roots growing beyond the planting 

 hole. In our study, the effect of pre-plant organic 

 matter on trunk diameter and shoot growth also 

 diminished with time. The diminished effects 

 observed in our study were possibly due to the 

 depletion of soil K, Mg, and Ca (data not shown). 

 Soil K in the compost plots was twice as great as in 

 non-compost plots, but this difference was much 

 smaller by the third season. Although trunk and 

 shoot growth differences diminished with time, 



o 





4 

 3.5 



3 

 2.5 



2 H 

 1.5 



1 

 0.5 







2.5 



S^ 2 



E 



i 1.5 



C/) 

 TO 



CL ' 



N+— 



TO 



^ 0.5 



n 



No Compost 

 Compost 



One' 



Two* Three' 



One" 



Two* 



Three" 



Figure 2. Leaf nitrogen and potassium with and 

 without pre-plant-incorporated compost. *Indicates 

 that compost had a significant effect in the indi- 

 cated year after planting. 



Fruit Notes, Volume 67, Winter, 2002 



